Everyone in class agreed that people rebel when a value of theirs is thwarted. Various arguments developed during discussion regarding what classifies as rebellion and whether or not it is effective; however, these seemingly conflicting arguments actually contribute to the general concept of rebellion in distinct ways.
The class first defined rebellion as standing up to society for wrongly thwarting a value and trying to bring about change by setting an example to influence other people to join the cause. Under this definition, rebellion is rarely effective because in order for a societal change to occur, there must be enough people that join the rebellion, and these people must remain loyal and dedicated to the cause. Continuous effort among
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Group efforts are essential for the long-term preservation of ideals and continue the work of individual acts of rebellion because they reaffirm the thwarted value and seek to preserve it throughout society, beyond the individual level. Members of the Underground Femaleroad are united not because they are all Quakers or religious; “they were just people who didn’t like the way things were going” (247). Other references to unions based on values include the abortion protests that Offred’s mother once participated in and the Mayday group in Gilead. The novel further conveys this point by developing the fate of an individual rebel who does not join a collective rebellion. From the beginning of the story, Moira has strong beliefs against everything that Gilead stands for and escapes the Center because of her disapproval of the system. As mentioned, her central values diminish as she becomes convinced that she lives a satisfactory life compared to others after she is caught right before crossing the border to escape the country and ends up in Jezebel’s. Because she does not experience the reassurance from a group that shares